Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
by Lunch Sur Cannibal
Summary: After a week of neglecting his household duties, Naruto arrives home late to find a peculiar sight. NaruSasu. Oneshot.


Naruto sighed, driving home from work. Since he had procrastinated like no other on a project due by the end of the week, it was about 10:45 by the time he got on the highway, and by then, he'd usually be long home, having neglected to feed Oscar, his and Sasuke's dog. Well, Oscar was mostly his responsibility, since he was the one who had insisted upon keeping the former stray. Usually he wouldn't give his mistake a second thought, writing it off as his forgetful nature, but after what happened the preceding night, he was scared shitless as to what Sasuke'd do to him, seeing as he'd given Sasuke his word that he wouldn't forget again.

_**Flashback**_

"_NARUTO!" boomed the loud voice of a raven-haired young man, stomping through the average-sized apartment he shared with the aforementioned blonde. "Naruto, if you don't come here RIGHT NOW, I will gut you like a fish and mount your head over my mantle to show off to houseguests as I regale them with stories from the motherland!" he threatened. Naruto groaned in response, letting Sasuke find him. He was too comfy in his current situation: residing on the couch watching "Days of our Lives" with one sock on, half-dead. By the time Sasuke found him, he was fuming. "Naruto. Uzumaki," he huffed, turning off the TV. Naruto was too afraid of his disgruntled uke to complain that he was about to find out whether or not Lucas was going to forgive Chloe for cheating with Daniel. "WHO is the one who wanted to keep that stray in the house?!" he demanded, hands on his hips._

"…_Me?" Naruto asked, with a yawn._

"_Yes. You. And who agreed to feed said stray mutt when his spineless boyfriend said no?" Sasuke asked._

"…_Me?" Naruto didn't like where this was going._

"_Right. And who has fed the poor beast for the past WEEK?!" Sasuke demanded._

"…_You?" Naruto deadpanned. He knew from experience that Sasuke was anything but spineless, regardless of what he thought, and groveling and begging for forgiveness would do him no good._

"_Right again. I work hard, Naruto, I really do, and it PAINS me so to see how little you respect me, as you quite clearly expect me to take care of your mutt. Now, pray tell, what do you think I should do with you?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow angrily._

"…_Touch me so I can tell my friends I was touched by an angel?" Naruto tried. He knew it wouldn't work, but hey, couldn't hurt to try._

"…_No sex for a month," Sasuke stated impassively._

_He was wrong._

**End Flashback**

Naruto winced, hoping it was an empty threat.

When he got home, he parked his car in the usual spot, and walked up to the door of their apartment. He stood there for a minute or two, preparing himself for the inevitable beating, couch sentence, and/or stern talking-to the smaller man would more than likely inflict upon him. _You can do this, Naruto. Get yourself together. You can't be afraid of your uke forever…_ His pep talk continued on like that for a few minutes, before he finally worked up the gall to open the door. And what lay behind it shocked him even more than any punishment Sasuke could dish out.

Instead of finding the enraged, pink-fuzzy-bathrobe-clad Sasuke, with his curlers adorned and that green stuff that smells like avocados carefully spread on his face like he had expected to find, Naruto found a much more intriguing specimen in front of him. The raven was curled up on the couch, wearing Naruto's black hoodie with the obnoxious orange lettering of his college fraternity, cuddling with the fluffy mutt he'd often claimed to loathe, fast asleep. Naruto blinked a few times, trying to make heads or tails of the sight. Had Sasuke… waited up for him? Probably to scold him or something. Naruto sighed, setting his bag by the door, and closing it softly behind him. He turned on a dim lamp, so as not to wake the smaller man. He moved the dog, which barely moved, save for a feline-sounding "mewl." He was about to pick Sasuke up to move him into their room, so he wouldn't be sore in the morning, when he noticed something was amiss. Instead of the sickly pale Sasuke's face usually was, it was a soft red shade. It almost looked like Sasuke had been crying.

_Nah, Uchihas don't cry…_ Naruto told himself. _Even if I do usually get home at 6:00…_ He dismissed the thought, picking Sasuke up bridal style, carrying him to their room. Of course, having cat-like reflexes, unlike the dog, Sasuke woke up, dazed and confused as to why he wasn't on the couch and why he was moving. It didn't take long for the familiar scent to register. Naruto was home. Well, then.

"Mmm… Naruto?" he muttered. Naruto went stiff, stopping dead in his tracks.

"…Heeey, Sasukeee…" Naruto muttered awkwardly.

"You're home," Sasuke stated, relaxing back into Naruto's arms. "Good."

Naruto paused for a minute. "That's it? No 'Naruto, I do so solemnly swear on the grave of my clan, before the week is out, you will have lost your favorite appendage by way of broken glass and rusty nails'?" he asked, confused.

"No. I'm just glad you're back," he yawned. How uncharacteristic. "Honestly, I kinda thought you weren't coming home," he admitted. His eyes were drooped shut, so Naruto was pretty sure all of this honesty was coming from exhaustion. Otherwise Sasuke'd never say anything of the sort. "Plus I don't swear on my clan's grave over something as frivolous as you getting home late. That'd be irreverent. Don't be so insensitive" he continued.

_So that was it, eh?_ Naruto thought to himself. _He thought I was gonna cut and run… after three years. His logic is screwed up._ Upon realizing he'd just stood there dumbly thus far, Naruto dubbed it appropriate to offer words of consolation. "Baby, do you really think I'd leave you after three years of putting up with your bitching?" Naruto asked lightly. Even in his sleepy state, Sasuke had enough sense to scoff at the "baby" in front of the speech that was meant to be encouraging.

"Don't patronize me," Sasuke muttered with a yawn, as Naruto set him on the bed. "Boys like you are overrated."

Naruto rolled his eyes, and kissed Sasuke's cheek. "I love you, too."


End file.
